CSIs In Oz
by Amanda Hawthorn
Summary: At a CSI convention, GS authors start disappearing. Grissom and the team come along to investigate and are transported to an Oz world. GS with hints of CW
1. Default Chapter

AUTHOR: Amanda Hawthorn  
  


TITLE: CSIs in Oz  
  
CATEGORY: Humour/romance  
  
ARCHIVE: Grissomandsara.com and my site   
  
FEEDBACK: Love it, but no flames please I'm fragile!!  
  
EMAIL: southerngirl_uk@yahoo.co.uk  
  
SPOILERS: Tiny season 4 mentions  
  
SUMMARY: At a CSI convention, G/S authors start disappearing. Grissom and the team come along to investigate and are transported to an Oz world. 

DISCLAIMER: CSI belongs to CBS and Alliance-Atlantis Productions. No infringement intended.  
  
**AUTHORS' NOTES: **This story came about when Anansay and myself had a bizarre conversation online and came up with this crazy idea. Hugs to Anansay for filling my head with this fic!Huge thanks to the following authors who gave their kind permission to be kidnapped: **Mossley, Burked, IrishDachsie, Laredo Grissom, LSI, Xant, Anansay, Laura Katharine, Hazeleyes57, Gibby, Sara Grissom, Anya, TriplePirouette, Imagine Jorja, Jane Moss and Marlou**.

Also thank you to the contributing authors who provided their own rescue lines, and to Rosa for allowing herself to be included in the story. Huge thanks also to Laura Katharine, Marlou and LSI for their positive reaction to the early chapters of this story.

Thanks as always to Marlou for her beta work and Mossley for her beta help too.

                                                         **CSIs in Oz**

"Okay…" Grissom breathed out as he came striding into the break room, breaking the conversation that had been flowing through the room. "We have a mass disappearance at some kind of convention down town. It's all hands on tonight."

"A convention?" Sara asked slowly, pushing her chair back as she stood up.

"Yeah, I don't have much information other than that." Hovering in the doorway, Grissom waited for her to join him and looked at the others expectantly. "Bring Greg, he could be useful on this one."

"Sure," Nick grinned, "he'll flip out."

"Okay, we'll grab our stuff and meet you out front," Catherine told them, pulling Warrick out of the room alongside her.

Shaking his head, Grissom started walking along the corridor with Sara. "What was that about?"

"What?"

"Catherine and Warrick."

"Oh that…you know Grissom, you really should start paying attention around here." Flashing him a beaming smile, Sara fished the car keys from his hand and headed for the exit. "I'm driving!"

"Hey…" he protested, but she was already gone.

                                                                      ***

They arrived at the convention to find a sea of people gathered both inside and outside of the building. Grissom walked just a little in front of Sara, his eyes flitting from one face to another. "Is it my imagination or are they all watching us?" Sara whispered nervously when she leaned closer to him.

"Stop being paranoid," he told her softly as they walked, knowing that she was probably right; it did seem that they were both under surveillance.

Moving closer to the entrance they were surprised to see the crowd part before them allowing them to walk through with ease. Sara shot Grissom a suspicious glance and reached out to grab his jacket sleeve. "This is scary."

"Sara…" Coming to an abrupt stop, Sara crashed into him. 

"Grissom," she protested. "That…Oh my!" Her eyes caught sight of what he was looking at and she suddenly felt very uncomfortable. There seemed to be hundreds of people gathered around, their chatter suddenly dying away to watch them.

"Mr. Grissom," a woman's voice called as she neared them. "Thank you for coming so quickly."

"Uh…we got a call about missing persons?" He asked cautiously, noting how the conversation around them resumed pretty quickly.

"Authors."

"Excuse me?" Sara asked.

"Authors have gone missing," the woman repeated. Holding out her hand she smiled, "Hi I'm Rosa, it's good to finally meet you."

Sara looked down at the hand and then to Grissom before tentatively reaching out to shake the woman's hand. "You said authors?" 

"Yes, mostly G/S authors although a couple of G/C authors have been reported missing as well."

"G/S?" Sara asked, shaking her head slightly.

Before Rosa could respond the rest of the team made their way towards them.

"Hi guys," Nick grinned, "sorry we're late."

"Have you got a list of people who are missing?" Grissom asked quickly, his curiosity piqued.

"Oh yes. Sorry." Rosa nodded, "if you'd all like to follow me, I'll show you."

"So Rosa," Sara started as they started walking. "This is a convention right?"

"It is."

"What kind of convention?"

"Oh, it's a get-together for fans of the show," Rosa smiled.

Grissom shared Sara's confusion and asked, "What show?"

"Yours."

"Huh?" Sara looked around to the others, her eyes glancing to Nick who also shook his head. "Whose?"

"Yours."

"Mine?" Sara shook her head and reached out to stop Rosa before she could go any further. 

"It's a CSI convention," she explained with a smile.

"Wow, I didn't know CSIs had conventions," Nick grinned, "cool."

"No no, it's a convention where all fans of the show come together and meet up," Rosa held up a hand to stop any more questions. "As I was explaining before, many G/S authors have disappeared and I doubt it's to get together and write one long fic."

"Okay…I'm confused," Catherine sighed. "First off…G/S…what _is _that?"

Greg gasped from behind the group and came closer, "Oh wow, this is cool…people write about us?" Waggling his eyebrows at Sara he winked in her direction.

"Yeah, G/S, G/C, N/S, W/C, S/C even some Gr/N in there too. There's actually a few more too."  Rosa smiled at the team and waited patiently until one of them figured it out.

"G/S," Greg beamed, "Greg/Sara…they write about us…"

"Grissom/Sara," Rosa corrected, bursting Greg's bubble as sudden realization dawned on Sara.

She glanced quickly at Grissom, noticing the rosy flush creeping up his face. "They…Uh…they write about us?"

"Wait a minute," Catherine asked, her mind swirling. "G/C?"

"Grissom/Catherine." Rosa provided.

Sara's eyes shot to Grissom's accusingly as she ground to a halt to pull him to a stop with her. He shook his head worriedly while he took a step back. "Uh…" 

"What?" Catherine gasped, frantically catching Warrick's eyes before looking back at Grissom. "Uh… no offence Gil, but ewww."

"None taken," he nodded, relieved that the accusations had started to die from Sara's eyes.

Rosa opened her bag and pulled out a stack of A4 size paper that was held together by a plastic binder and handed it over to Grissom. "Anansay's Jazzy Lust," she winked, "thought you could use a few pointers."

Grissom opened the first few pages; his eyes tentatively reading a few lines and then slapped the booklet shut quickly, his face turning crimson. "Uh…thank you."

"No problem," Rosa smiled, her hands motioning the booklet he held against his chest rather possessively. "There's a good selection in there by some of the missing authors. IrishDachsie, Anya and Hazeleyes57.You might want to try some of Laura Katharine's, Burked's and Mossley's fics too "

"Do I really want to know?" Sara asked quickly, noting how Grissom's breathing had started to increase.

"Ask Grissom later," Rosa grinned. Turning around, she started to walk again, "This is the last place they were all seen."

Catherine and Warrick started to follow her, Nick and Greg towing behind. Sara glanced over at Grissom who had opened the pages again to sneak a quick peak inside until he realized Sara was watching him. Closing the booklet he opened his kit and shoved it inside. "Shall we go?"

"What's in those pages?" She asked curiously.

He coughed and loosened the button on his shirt, was it getting warm in here? He felt Sara come closer to his side and swallowed down his increasing heart rate. "Nothing."

"Grissssssom," she purred, her breath close to his ear as she touched his arm. She couldn't help herself, being here had given her some kind of buzz knowing now what she knew, that people actually wrote about them. Then the title hit her suddenly, Jazzy Lust? Oh my. Releasing his arm, she started to walk behind the others and cast him a luring smile. "Coming?"

"Uh…Yeah."

When they caught up with the others, they were all stunned to find what looked like a huge whirlpool in the floor at the basement of the building. "How did this get here?" Nick marvelled as he stepped a little closer to the edge.

"Nick, be care…" Catherine's words died on her lips when Nick suddenly toppled over the edge. Greg reached out to grab him and found himself being pulled into the whirlpool. Warrick lunged forward to hold onto Greg but the suction started to pull him down too until finally Catherine ran forward to grab his hand.

"Catherine," Sara yelled, reaching forward to catch the blonde woman's hand but the suction was too strong and she found herself being pulled into the void as well.

Rosa quickly shoved a list of missing persons into Grissom's pocket before he reached down for his kit and lunged into the void after Sara and the rest of his team. 

                                                                           ***

When Grissom finally landed, he fell with a thump on top of his team mates who all groaned loudly until he started to move. "Sorry," he hissed as he tried to move off of them. Finding his feet, he reached down to pull on Sara's hand, yanking her to her feet beside him.

One by one the others started to move, groaning as they climbed to their feet. "Where is this place?" Greg asked with a groan as he tried to pat his hair down. 

"Give it up Greg," Nick winced, but grinned to mask the pain in his arm. Stepping closer, he reached over to help pat his friend's hair down and was met with a sticky mass of hair gel. "Ewwwww, man this is bad." 

"Well it's not my fault you touched my hair!"

Nick scowled and looked around him, wiping his hand on his jacket. "Oh man, this place is funky."

Warrick steadied Catherine who wobbled on her feet beside him, his warm smile causing a soft blush to creep up her cheeks.

"You okay?" He drawled, his voice soothing her aching body like velvet.

"I'm fine," she smiled, "thanks."

Grissom was ignoring all of this odd behaviour that had seemed to take over his team and started to look around the floor in search of any clues.

"Hey Boss," a voice bellowed behind them and they all turned to see Hodges clambering down the grass banks. "I heard about this place so I thought I'd come and check it out for you."

Shaking his head, Grissom sighed heavily and started to look around him.

"What's up?" Sara asked quietly, touching his arm as she spoke.

"Where's my kit?"

Hodges came to stand next to Grissom and forcefully pushed Sara away from his side. "See Boss, I thought I could help out in the field …"

Out of nowhere, Grissom's field kit came tumbling out of the sky to land heavily on Hodges head, knocking him onto the floor.

Everyone jumped back, stunned, when he didn't move.

"Man, that's gotta hurt," Nick commented, his eyes catching everyone else's whose had suddenly fell onto him. "Well it's gotta!"

"Grissom," Sara whispered, pulling on his arm as she stepped back. "That could've been me."

Her words filled him with sudden dread and he had to fight to stop himself reaching out for her. Instead, he chose to touch her cheek with the palm of his hand.

Sara smiled and leaned into his palm, a soft sigh escaping her lips. "Chalk," he told her with a tiny smile, his hand slowly dropping from her face. 

"Thanks Grissom." She smiled before moving away from him to go and take a peek at the now still Hodges.

"Okay, no one touch the body until I've had a chance to release it." Another familiar voice came from behind them and they all turned to see Doc Robbins coming slowly towards them with David in tow.

"Uh Doc…what are you doing here?" Grissom asked quickly, his eyes flittering from each member of his team.

"I'm here to establish the cause of death," Al muttered, shaking his head.

"I think that's pretty obvious here doc," Nick told him, his Texas drawl enticing a small smirk from Greg who stood beside him.

David bent over Hodges' still form and carefully lifted the kit from his head. "Ouch," he muttered when he saw the huge gouge in his forehead. Reaching down to check for a pulse, David withdrew his hand quickly. "He's alive!"

"How?" Grissom asked, his eyes cast skyward as he tried to fathom how far his kit had fallen.

"We'll deal with Hodges," Al told him quickly, "Hadn't you better be finding those missing authors?"

"Uh…yeah…I'll see you back at the lab." Bending down to pick up his dented kit, Grissom slipped his arm through Sara's and started to walk towards the brightly coloured road that led into the distance.

TBC


	2. 2

Thanks for the reviews G glad you like this!!

Chapter Two 

They hadn't gone far when Catherine stopped to look at the yellow bricks beneath her feet. Looking around, she spotted some loose rocks that lay just beside the road, and bent down to touch one, her fingers instantly covered in yellow dust. Standing up she looked at her colleagues and smiled. "Look at the yellow it's hard to miss, I wish my path would shine like this."

The others stared at her and she looked up at them worriedly. "What is wrong? Why do you stare? Oh god is there something wrong with my hair?" Lifting her hands to her hair she patted down the strands and turned to glance at the others before stepping up closer to Warrick.

"You know I trust you, tell me the truth. Do I have anything stuck on my tooth?"

"Uh," Warrick looked to the others for help, but Catherine stepped even closer to him. "Catherine, you're talking in rhyme."

"Talking in rhyme? Well that's absurd, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." Stopping suddenly she clamped her hands over her mouth and stared back at him in horror. "How did this happen, I think I'm ill. You're the expert on Shakespeare, help me out Gil."

Grissom stared at her open mouthed and for a moment tried to act as if he hadn't noticed anything. "Uh...oh look…a beetle," Pulling on Sara's arm he ignored the blonde who was imploring him to answer her. "Bring my jar."

"You and your jars Grissom," Sara beamed, following him willingly, leaving the situation behind her for the others to deal with.

Catherine looked from Warrick to Nick then on to Greg. She kept her mouth tightly closed, afraid that when she opened her mouth she would again speak in rhyme.

"Oh come on Cath, it's kinds cool," Nick grinned, nudging her arm as they started to walk "think of how you'll stand out in a crowd.

"Nick I don't think standing out in a crowd is really the thing here," Warrick told him as he sneaked an arm around Catherine's shoulders. "Come on Cath." 

When they had walked across the yellow brick bridge, they headed towards Grissom and Sara who had mysteriously stopped bug hunting and were wiping chalk from each other again. "Guys, when you've finished brushing the chalk off, we're heading in this direction," he called out.

Sara leapt away from Grissom and shrugged her shoulders quickly. "You know Grissom, we really should think of something else instead of chalk, can we try something else maybe?"

"Hmm, like what?"

"Why don't you read that booklet Rosa gave you for some ideas?" Her smile spread across her face as she reached out to pull on his arm so that they could follow Catherine and Warrick.

Behind them, Nick and Greg started to follow slowly behind. "You know," Greg started, "I've been thinking."

"Isn't that kinda dangerous for you?" Nick scoffed.

"Au contraire," Greg tutted. "Listen, if G/S is Griss and Sara, and G/C is Grissom and Cath, then what is Gr/N?"

"I'm more concerned with the N/S," Nick shrugged his shoulders. "Well S is obviously Sara," he mused.

"Oooo I got it," Greg grinned triumphantly, "Nick and Sara, N/S!"

"Hey man, don't even joke about stuff like that," Nick warned, his face suddenly going pale, "that is so wrong on so many levels."

"Hey you know what isn't fair?" Greg asked with a sigh.

"What?"

"You guys all have a pairing except me. Why? Doesn't anyone like me?" Greg whined sadly.

"Oh man, of course they do!" Shaking his head, Nick ran through the list that Rosa had reeled off to them. "Okay so we know G/S, G/C, N/S…so what are Gr/N and W/C?"

"Yeah, don't forget the S/C, I can't think who that can be…" Greg's voice suddenly trailed away and he stopped walking. "Oh God."

"What?" Nick asked in concern, his hand reaching out to touch Greg's shoulder.

"Uh, Nick, you might want to remove your hand from my arm," Greg groaned.

"Sure," Nick shrugged, "why?"

"I've just realized what Gr/N means…"

"Well if N is for me, then Gr must mean…oh MAN!" Nick leapt away from Greg as if he had the plague. "This is so wrong…so, so, wrong."

"Hey I didn't suggest it!" Greg complained as he started to follow Nick across the bridge.

"Just stay over there," Nick warned, pointing to the other side of the road.

"Hey, I do have some pride you know," Greg grumbled. "Why do you think I'd pick you anyway?"

"I…"

"Why, because you're such a catch?" Greg asked huffily as he stomped off towards the others, leaving Nick to stare after him.

                                                                ***

As they walked, they came to a fork in the road. Stopping slowly, Grissom put his field kit onto the floor and reached inside his pocket to pull out the paper that Rosa had shoved in there. "Maybe there's a map," he told them as he started to unfold the paper.

Leaning over his shoulder, Sara started to randomly pick out names to read aloud. "ImagineJorja, Laredo Grissom, Gibby," this doesn't look like a map, Grissom."

"No it's a list of the missing authors," he told her. "Xant, Anansay, Tripple pirouette, Sara Grissom." The last name caused Sara to take in a breath and when he looked towards her he could see the rosy flush on her cheeks. "That's a very good name," he winked.

"Cut it out both of you, just kiss her and get it over with Gil. We've seen you do this dance forever, so do us a favour already and get together!" Catherine huffed out a groan and turned away from them.

"What's eating her?" Sara asked quietly as she tried to ignore Grissom's closeness. 

"I think it's the rhyming," he told her, his eyes returning to the list. "She hates it."

"Um…about what she said…"

Lifting his eyes to hers, he offered her a soft smile. "Let's find these missing authors and then we'll talk about this."

Sara's eyes sparkled with warmth and she leaned in closer to him. "Okay."

"Okay, we also have, Anya, Burked, Hazeleyes57, IrishDachsie, Jane Moss, Laura Katharine, LSI, Marlou, Mossley, ShannonSto and Amanda Hawthorn"   

"I say we should split the list between the six of us," Sara suggested.

"I'll have Hazeleyes57," Greg told them, his voice causing all eyes to turn to him. "What? I like the name, that's all!"

"Greg we can't pick who we want to rescue," Sara told him, "but when we're back at the lab, I'm sure one of them will give you their number."

"Humph, you would say that! You're paired with Nick as well as Grissom!"

"What?" she gasped, her wide eyes looking over to Nick and then back to Greg. "That is…"

"I know," Nick nodded, "I already said that!"

"But…you and me?" she shook her head. "I've heard about keeping it in the family, but this…ewww."

"I know Sar, I agreed with you." Nick caught Grissom's eyes and cringed slightly. "Honest Gris, I have no interest in your girl."

Sara looked from Nick to Grissom and folded her arms across her chest huffily. "Why? What's wrong with me?"

"Sara?" Grissom started, his voice rising slightly.

"Uh…nothing's wrong with you Sara…I…um…I'm gonna go over and see what…oh look there's Warrick." Nick skulked away quickly, but not before shooting Greg a glaring look.

"Sara," Grissom sighed, turning her to face him. Shoving the paper back into his pocket, he placed both of his hands on her shoulders. "You are amazing, beautiful, smart…"

"Really?" she asked coyly, her cheeks flushing as she averted her eyes.

With lightening speed, Grissom's hand was on her cheek, his fingers gently lifting her chin so that he could see her face. Their eyes met, and he found her impossible to resist. Lowering his head, he met her lips softly with his own, their soft kiss promising so much more. When he pulled away, Sara gazed up into his eyes and smiled.

"Hey, hey, let's break this up." A familiar voice spoke, causing all six of them to turn around.

"Brass?" Grissom asked, his eyes looking up and down his friend's attire.

"Hey, don't knock the outfit," Brass warned, his hand smoothing down the taffeta dress that he wore over his suit. "I'm the good witch I'll have you know, and since when have you seen a witch in a suit?"

"Uh…" Sara started, but stopped when she couldn't think of anything to say.

"Okay, down to business," Brass told them. "Gather round kids, I have a job to do."

"Brass?" Catherine asked as she came forward. "If you're a good witch then cut me loose, I'm talking in rhyme like Dr. Seuss!"

"Okay for the record," Brass told them, "for the purposes of this story I am now Brassette," holding up a hand to silence them, he continued. "Seems that I'm the good guy around here so I've been elected to show you the way forward. If you look over that ridge there're some munchkins waiting."

"Munchkins?" Sara asked incredulously.

"Yeah, Archie and Bobby to be precise," he nodded. The rest of the munchkin night shift is around here somewhere."

"Hey Brass?" Warrick asked, but when he was met with a scowl, he bit back the smile, "Sorry, Brassette…what about Catherine?"

"Catherine will be fine as soon as she gets to the castle of Cavallo."

"Excuse me?" Grissom asked, "Cavallo has a castle?"

"For the purposes of this story only," he grinned. "That's where you'll find your missing authors."

"Okay, thanks, but how do we get there?"

"Follow the yellow brick road, my friend," he smiled as he started to turn away.

"By the way," Grissom called out, causing Brassette to turn towards him. "I'd lose the tiara, it spoils the look."

"I know," Brass sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "I said that," he looked towards the trees, and threw his hands in the air as if speaking to some unknown person. "Didn't I say that?!"

Grissom looked down at Sara and bent to pick up his field kit, "Okay, lets follow that road."

"As long as you don't want me to skip along it and sing," she grinned.

"No, walking will suffice," he told her as he took her arm.

TBC


	3. 3

Chapter Three 

Archie and Bobby waved at the approaching group, their wide smiles welcoming. "Hey guys," Archie called.

"Archie, what's going on man?" Nick asked as he came closer to his friend who was now dressed in a brightly coloured orange and green suit.

"Don't ask," Archie groaned, "I don't get paid enough to do this, you know." Looking skyward, he addressed no one in particular. "You hear me? I want a raise."

"Oh, it ain't so bad," Bobby smiled as he looked down at his own outfit.

"That's because you got to wear normal colours!" Archie retorted.

"I always thought munchkins wore those stripy tights and had the triangle hair," Nick theorized, his mind trying to picture the creatures.

"Dude, that's the umpa lumpas!" Archie shook his head in dismay and folded his arms across his chest. "This is such a bad idea."

Greg came to stand beside Nick, but kept his distance. "Come on Nick, don't you know your Umpa Lumpas from your munchkins?"

"This coming from the man whose only pairing is with me!"

"Excuse me?" Sara asked curiously as she came towards them. "What do you mean you're paired with Greg?"

"Yeah, I know, it's so wrong," Greg shook his head vigorously.

"Oh I don't know," Sara grinned, "whatever stirs your coffee I guess!"

"SARA…" Nick growled.

"Hey, I'm okay. I have Grissom." Sara grinned, "At least I'm safe."

"I wouldn't count on that Sara," Greg told her, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "I just realized what S/C means."

"Oh and I'm sure you're gonna tell me, aren't you Greg?" she sighed, "Well go on then, tell me, what is S/C?"

Catherine came over to stand next to Sara and offered her a smile. "Oh yes do tell, I'd like to see, just what is the meaning of S and C?"

Archie and Bobby shared a glance and then looked over at Catherine in surprise.

"I've started to rhyme, obvious I'm sure. We're going to the castle to find a cure."

"Oh," Archie nodded, trying to act normal as though this was a daily occurrence.

"Okay then Greg, you were going to tell us what S/C meant." Sara told him.

"Sara and Catherine." 

All eyes suddenly turned to the two women who stood stock still next to each other. "Uh…that's…new," Sara stuttered.

"I totally agree, but for some it's a must. Two women together fills them with lust…"

"Catherine!"

Stopping mid sentence, she turned to see what Warrick was yelling for, and saw that his face had turned a deep shade of red.

"Well they do," she told him, "it's only the truth. Didn't you ever experiment in your youth?"

"Uh…NO…and we are not having this conversation." Reaching over, Warrick pulled on her arm and led her away from Sara's side.

"Hey," Sara told him huffily. "Just because some people write about this stuff doesn't mean that…uh…" her voice trailed off. "I think I'll shut up now."

Grissom came closer to her and rested his hand in the small of her back, "Come on, we'd better keep walking."

"Keep on the path," Bobby called when they walked past him. "And watch out for bad witch Ecklie."

"Ecklie?" Nick asked quickly, his shoulders stiffening. "What's day shift doing here? This is our case!"

"Hey take it up with TPTB," Archie told him, "nothing to do with us, we just read from the script."

"Okay, okay," Nick groaned, lifting his hands up in surrender. "See you guys later."

"Later," Archie nodded as he turned back to Bobby. In a hushed voice he nudged the other man's elbow. "What say we go back and party with those S/C shippers?"

"Oh yeah," Bobby nodded enthusiastically and turned to follow his friend back down the hill.

                                                               ***

The night shift carried on their trek along the yellow brick road until they came to a lonely scarecrow attached limply to a pole. Greg looked around at the others and decided to be the brave one and started to approach it.

"Help me down," it squeaked miserably, causing Greg to jump backwards.

"Uh…how do we know you're not an evil scarecrow just waiting to kill us all like some psychotic murderer?"

"Because I haven't got a brain," he wailed.

Sara's eyes shot to the scarecrow when she recognized the voice. "Hank?"

"Sara?" he sighed, relief in his voice. "Can you help me down from here?"

"Nope," she told him abruptly and started to walk past him only to turn around when no one had followed. "I say we should leave him there, he said it himself, he hasn't got a brain."

"Sara, we know he has no brain, he cheated on you, the guy's insane." Catherine came to stand beside her, segregating herself from the men. "I say we take him and burn his straw and leave him as a pile of crap on the floor." 

Grissom glared at Hank angrily. "You cheated on Sara?"

"I'm sorry, just help me down and I swear I'll make it up to her," Hank pleaded.

Nick grabbed hold of Hank and started to shake him, his straw flying in every different direction. "You don't cheat on someone I care about."

"Oh Nick," Sara sighed, a warm smile spreading over her lips. "That's just so sweet."

"See I told you he cared, he's like no other. Now if only he didn't feel like your brother," Catherine sighed.

"Nah, I don't think of Nick that way." Sara grinned, "But thanks for thinking of me."

"You're very welcome Sara, my friend, I just hope my friendship can make amends. I wasn't so nice to you at first, and when you wanted to leave I feared the worst." Catherine shook her head sadly.

"No hard feelings Cath," Sara smiled.

Over at the pole, Hank's straw leg suddenly came away from his body and flew across to the other side of the road. "Oh no…my leg…you broke my leg!"

"Well that sucks," Nick groaned, "I was aiming for your neck…sheesh, my aim is off."

"You're getting sloppy bro," Warrick told him, patting him on the back reassuringly. Pushing Nick's hands away, he lifted Hank Scarecrow down from the pole and propped him up.

"Thank you," he sighed in relief. 

Grissom looked him up and down and started to walk back towards Sara and Catherine. Greg followed, then Nick and finally Warrick.

"Hey what about me?" Hank whined, "How am I gonna follow with just one leg?"

"With difficulty," Warrick called back.

"Yeah, hop," Nick suggested.

"Or slither," Sara called out as she linked her hand with Grissom's. "You're a snake Hank, you might as well act like one."

"I said I was sorry," he whined miserably as he hopped over to retrieve his leg from the other side of the road. Lifting it in the air he waved it frantically, hopping unsteadily as he tried to catch up.

The further they walked along the yellow brick road, the darker it had started to become. There was a large clump of trees that grew alongside the road, their branches overshadowing the path.

"This is kinda creepy," Sara whispered as she leaned in closer to Grissom's arm.

"They're only trees," he told her with a smile.

"Yeah, well I've seen Lord of the rings Rings you know, walking trees and stuff." Sara looked around her as they walked through the small clump of Oak trees, keeping her fingers firmly clamped around Grissom's hand.

"This is weird," Nick whispered.

"Keep walking," Grissom warned, his eyes watching the trees cautiously.

"What is it?" Greg asked worriedly, quickening his pace to walk beside Grissom. "Your spidey sense tingling?"

"No, my Grissom sense," he huffed. "Look there's the clearing, if we head right for that opening we'll be okay."

Catherine looked around her and wrapped her arm firmly around one of Warrick's. "This place is freaky, the branches are quaking. Look at my fingers," lifting a hand up she shuddered, "my hands are shaking."

"We're almost through," he told her as he took hold of her outstretched hand and held it close to his arm.

When they had almost made it through, an apple fell from the branches to hit Nick on the head. "Youch."

Another apple fell, followed by another until it was raining apples on top of their heads. "Quick everyone run," Grissom yelled, his hand catching Sara's to pull her out into the clearing and back onto the yellow brick road again. The others soon followed with Hank Scarecrow, the last to come through, hopping as if his life depended on it.

"That was close," Sara sighed, taking a second to lean into Grissom's shoulder.

Taking a moment, Grissom put his field kit onto the ground and slipped an arm around her shoulders. "Yeah, too close."

"Hey guys," Nick said quickly, breaking the mood. Pointing to the opposite side of the road he started to walk slowly over towards what appeared to be a tin man with its back towards them.

"Okay, now this is getting weird," Sara groaned as she unwrapped herself from Grissom's arms to walk over to where Nick was standing.

Sighing heavily, Grissom picked up his kit and made his way over, noticing how his fellow teammates mouths hung open in shock. Following their gaze his eyes fell onto the tin man, his breath choking in his throat as he uttered a name. "Lady Heather."

"Hello," she purred, her joints squeaking as she tried to come closer. "Thank goodness you have arrived. I seem to have lost something."

"Not her virginity," Sara muttered cattily into Catherine's ear, causing the older woman to laugh out loud.

Ignoring the comment, Heather came closer to Grissom and held out her hand for him to take, but he stood still. "I seem to have lost my chastity belt key, I need to find it."

Sara's mouth dropped open and she came closer to Grissom, accusations in her eyes. "I swear Grissom, if you have her key you're a dead man!"

"I…No…I…" Grissom's throat was suddenly dry and he looked at the other men for some help.

"My guess is that your missing key is in the same place that scarecrow's missing brain is," Warrick suggested helpfully, causing Lady Heather to turn to him.

Catherine moved to his side with lightning speed. "Back off now," she warned, her hand pushing Heather back, "as fast as you can. Warrick here is only My man. If you want a quick roll then look over there, there's a man with no brain only too willing to share. He's made of straw, but if you want a quick lay, he's only too willing, even has his own stack of hay."

"Yeah, and he has no remorse for what he does, so I guess you two are made for each other," Sara said sweetly as she took Grissom's hand to pull him away from the tin woman.

Lady Heather fixed Hank with her dark eyes and shrugged squeakily. "Maybe when I have my key returned you could come and join me?"

Hank shook his head worriedly, stray pieces of straw flying in every direction. "Help," he yelped pathetically as Lady Heather picked him up in her arms and started to walk behind the others.

                                                        ***

Moving on, they came to a pile of clothes that lay dumped by the side of the road. "Hey, look at that," Nick said as he pointed towards it.

"Careful Nick," Greg muttered, reaching out his hand to stop his friend from moving. "We have no idea what that is."

Behind them, Sara stifled a giggle and looked hurriedly away when both Nick and Greg turned to glare at her.

"I'm sorry," she beamed, "you two're just so damn cute!"

"Oh be quiet," Greg grumbled. Turning back to Nick, he realized he was still touching his arm and pulled it away quickly. "I'll…I'll go."

Stepping closer, Greg cautiously kicked at the crumpled outfit with his foot, moving part of it aside. When it appeared to be harmless, he bent down to touch it.

"Wait!" Catherine called quickly. "You don't want to touch it, not with your hand. I don't want you to rhyme like me, understand? This place is just waiting to run us amock, look what happened to me when I touched that rock!"

"She's right Greg," Warrick nodded, "you shouldn't touch it with your bare hand."

"Okay, so what do you suggest I touch it with?"

Looking around, Warrick spotted Grissom's field kit, which he still held firmly in his hand. Grissom followed his eyes and snatched his kit up into his arms. "Oh no, we only have one kit between the six of us, I am not letting you turn it into something just so Greg doesn't start flying or something!"

"You just don't want them to know you've got smut in your kit," Sara told him huffily, folding her arms over her chest. 

"Smut?" Lady Heather asked quickly, her interest piqued. "Have you decided to partake in the arts of pleasure again Mr. Grissom?"

"Uh…" Grissom looked from Sara to Heather and shook his head, small beads of sweat forming on his forehead. "No," he squeaked.

"Hey back off 'Tin girl'," Sara warned, taking a step in front of Grissom. "No one reads Jazzy Lust after Grissom except me. Got that?"

"Uh…Jazzy what?" Nick asked curiously. "You been holding out on us there, Sara?"

"Oh shut up Nicky," she scoffed. "Just help me find something to poke at that thing would ya?"

Greg turned his attention back to the clothes on the floor and was suddenly hit by an idea. Walking past Nick, he reached over to Hank who was strapped to Heather's back.

"Hey, don't touch that," Hank warned, flapping his arm around to throw pieces of straw everywhere.

Greg ignored him and pulled his broken leg out of his arms. "I'm only borrowing it."

"That's mine!"

"OH, SHUT UP," everyone chorused, causing Hank to clamp his straw mouth closed in a scarecrow like pout.

Greg gingerly approached the clothes and prodded at them with Hank's straw leg. When nothing happened, he poked the leg further inside and started to lift the clothes off of the floor.

"That looks like…" Sara started, her voice trailing off.

"Wasn't there supposed to be a cowardly Lion in this story?" Warrick asked dubiously.

"Well, we found his clothes," Greg told them. Taking a closer look, he peered at the label and quickly dropped the clothes back onto the floor. "Grissom, I think you should come and take a look at this."

"Okay," Grissom slowly stepped closer; his caution noted as he came to see what Greg was pointing at. Looking down, he was shocked to see 'Gil Grissom' written on the lions label and stepped back in horror.

"This was yours, Grissom," Greg told him, his voice registered with shock.

"Okay, so why wasn't I in it?" Grissom asked, his eyes flitting from one face to another.

"Beats me," Warrick shrugged. "I wouldn't exactly call you a coward."

"Ah, but the lion wasn't really a coward, he lacked courage," Grissom pointed out. "Did you know that in the original story…"

"I get it," Sara interrupted quickly, her face beaming into a huge smile.

"Excuse me?" Grissom questioned, confusion in his eyes.

"Don't you get it?" she started excitedly. "You found your courage!"

"I did?"

Sara watched him with a mixture of disbelief and annoyance. Stepping closer she lowered her voice so the others couldn't hear. "Your office…the Denali…my floor…do you need me to remind you again?"

Grissom's face suddenly flushed crimson and he coughed loudly as he loosened another button on his shirt. "Oh…yes, I did…um… you're right."

"So I take it we have no lion?" Warrick asked.

"It seems our Sara has finally succeeded in showing our Gil what he really needed," Catherine whispered into his ear.

"Oh?" Warrick asked, then a second later, "OH!"

"Okay, we've established I'm no lion, can we please move on now?" Grissom asked quickly, his hand once again moving to Sara's back.

"Oh I wouldn't say that, Grissom," Sara whispered softly, winking seductively as they walked.

Grissom gasped, his mouth hanging open in shock at her boldness. "Uh…" 

"You know, it's such a shame this ratings only a PG-13," she sighed wistfully, wrapping an arm around his.

"Um…dare I ask why?"

"Because I could really jump your bones right about now!" Smiling sweetly, she pulled him closer as she chose to ignore his rapid increase in breathing.

Greg nodded and looked at Hank's straw leg quickly. Thrusting it out to Heather, he shoved it into her hands before turning tail to practically race to walk beside Nick. "That woman's scary," he muttered.

"What?" Nick asked with a grin as he cast a quick glance backwards. "You're kidding me right? You're scared of her?"

"Sara scares me…" Greg whispered quickly, "but her, she terrifies me."

"Greg you dawg," Nick laughed, slapping his friends shoulder before retrieving it quickly. 

TBC


	4. 4

Chapter Four 

They followed the yellow brick road that seemed to go on and on forever, walking tirelessly over the twists and turns.

Looking up into the cloudless sky, Nick suddenly noticed a blur on the horizon. "Hey guys, what's that up there?"

Everyone followed his eyes to see a slowly approaching object that seemed to be getting bigger as it closed on them. 

"Is it a bird?" Warrick asked, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand.

As it came nearer, Greg gasped with a smile. "Hey, isn't that Peters from dayshift?"

Squinting her eyes, Sara stood up taller to try and get a better look. "Oh yeah, but why is he flying?"

"Hey, Peters," Greg yelled waving his hands frantically.

Peters flew down low to hover above them for a few moments before zoning in on Sara to take hold of her shoulders and lift her off of the ground.

"Grissom," she yelled as he quickly dropped his kit while lunging forward to wrap his arms around her legs.

"Let her go Peters, I swear Ecklie's gonna hear about this."

"Oh but Gil," a smarmy voice spoke from behind them, "I already know about it."

Spinning around, Grissom momentarily released Sara's legs to confront Ecklie. "You've gone too far this time Ecklie. Let her go."

"What, and miss this little confrontation?" Ecklie grinned.

"If only I had a pot of coffee," Grissom growled, his eyes looking around the ground for one to appear. As if by magic a coffee pot materialized in Grissom's hands and he looked down at it in shock for a few moments before throwing it in his Ecklie's direction.

The glass melted away to pour cooling coffee all over Ecklie's head. "Well gee, thanks," he groaned, his hands trying to wipe the stains off of his suit. "This was newly made especially for this story, shi…" His voice died away and he looked at the night shift in shock.

Peters let Sara go and she fell onto Grissom, sending them both into a heap on the floor. 

"Look at Ecklie he's turning pale, I really wanted to see him wail. Just because you ruined his suit, he's really standing rather mute." Catherine looked up at Warrick and then over to Greg before looking back to Ecklie's still form.

"Help…" he whined, his hands patting his balding head. "I'm meeeeeeelting…"

"Oh look he is too," Greg noted, watching him as he slowly started to smoke. "Shouldn't we do something?"

"Exactly what show have you been on bud?" Nick asked quietly. "Don't you know by now that no one really likes Ecklie?"

"You mean he's someone who I haven't been pared with?" Greg asked hopefully.

"Don't take it bad bro," Nick grinned, "I'm sure there's someone out there who has written a good pairing for you."

"Yeah there has," Greg moaned glumly, "and it's with you!"

Nick moved swiftly away, "Well I've got Sara to fall back on so I'm okay."

"Seems she's already fallen for Grissom," Warrick grinned, pointing to the pair who still hadn't risen from the ground, their eyes locked in an intensive intense gaze.

Ecklie watched them all stunned, and then put his hands on his hips indignantly. "Excuse me, this is my death scene. Have a little consideration!" 

"Oh…" Nick and Greg lifted their eyes to Ecklie's smoldering form. Warrick slipped his arm around Catherine while she checked her nails. Grissom pushed Sara up so that he could get up off the floor to pull her up with him. Hank wailed miserably when Heather started to stroke his straw leg, his begging going unheard.

Taking his hands off of his hips, Ecklie straightened up and shook his shoulders. "Okay, now where was I?"

"You were melting, boss," Peters whispered as he took a quick step closer only to retreat again.

"Oh yeah," Ecklie nodded, drawing in a deep breath. "Okay I haven't rehearsed this so everyone please be gentle," he told them, "it's my first time."

"Really?" Sara reassured him, nodding enthusiastically. " Get outta here, you're kidding us aren't you?"

"No, honest, my very first time," he blushed.

"You're a natural." She beamed, " Just take a deep breath before you start your death scene again."

"You sure?" he asked dubiously. "Not too dramatic?"

"No…no," Sara reassured, "Take it from the 'I'm Meeeelting part' okay?"

"I must say you're being very good about all of this," he smiled. "After I tried to kidnap you and all."

"Hey, no hard feelings there Conrad," she told him. "Now if you really wouldn't mind dying now, we have to rescue some authors."

"Oh… yes of course," he apologized. "Okay, I'm ready." Taking a deep breath, he started to melt, his wail starting slowly to die down as he sank to the ground sputtering his last breath.

Standing back, the night shift applauded, and Ecklie raised his head in a single bow of encore before finally melting into a puddle on the floor.

"Look," Nick yelled, pointing into the distance. "The castle."

All eyes turned to where he was pointing and finally a breath of relief cascaded around the small group. Picking up his kit, Grissom took his place by Sara's side and started to walk again. The others followed behind, knowing that this little adventure was soon to be over.

                                                                  ***

As they walked, Nick surveyed the fields surrounding them. "Sara?"

Pulling away from Grissom's side, Sara walked over to her friend and smiled. "Yeah?"

"I've decided that you can have the promotion!"

Sara's mouth dropped open suddenly as she reached out to Nick to pull him to a standstill. "Excuse me? I can _have_ the promotion?"

Nick glanced up at her quickly and gulped visibly. "Uh…I meant to say…I…" 

"Why?"

"Uh…"

"Why do you want me to have the promotion? What's wrong with it?" Pulling on his arm, Sara took Nick to the opposite side of the yellow brick road and looked him in the eye. "Okay, spill. Is there something you're not telling me?"

Shaking his head quickly, Nick's eyes drifted over towards the huge castle that loomed in the distance. "No, nothing wrong, I just realized whose job I want."

Sara sighed visibly and linked her arm through his, "Grissom's?"

"Nope," he grinned.

"Hmm…" she mused, smiling as she thought. "Bobby's?"

"Nope."

"Ecklie's?"

"Ewww NO!"

"Um…" she pulled on his arm to start him walking again. "Brass?"

"What and wear a dress? No thanks…"

"Well it is only for this story, so technically you won't have to wear a dress," looking up into his eyes she winked. "Unless you want to!"

"SARA!"

"Sorry," she grinned, "okay, let's see…Greg's, Hodges…oo…oo…Lady Heather's personal assistant?"

"Hey don't even joke about that," Nick huffed. "Besides, looks like your ex has already been employed."

Their eyes looked over to where Lady Heather was caressing Hanks broken leg, her hands every so often pulling out a strand of straw to throw onto the floor.

"We've established he was never really my boyfriend, right?" Sara asked worriedly, wondering how on earth she had even considered dating a brainless man.

"Oh yeah," Nick winked. "A bit embarrassing though don't you think?"

"What, that I almost dated a man with no brain?"

"No, that your ex boyfriend turned out to be a scarecrow!"

Sara's eyes flew to Nick's and she slapped him on his arm playfully before returning to their guessing game.

"Okay give me a hint," she beamed.

"I want a total new change," he hinted.

"Oh God Nick…" she gasped, pulling him to a halt beside her again. "You can't go to CSI Miami…that would be just so wrong!"

"Miami? Sar, I'm not going to Miami."

"You sure?" she asked cautiously. "You mean you're not gonna have your hands permanently attached to your hips and call yourself Horatio?"

"Horatio…who's Horatio?"

"Oh it doesn't matter," she told him with the wave of her hand. "Just tell me!"

"I wanna be the director," he told her in a whisper.

"The director?" she asked, her voice booming until he hurriedly covered her mouth with his hand.

"Shhh," he hissed. "What's so wrong with wanting to be director?"

"Uh…let me think…" Shaking her head she nudged him lightly. "Okay I give up."

"So soon," he grinned. 

"You're just too smart there, Nick," she winked. "So come on, give."

"I want a castle too."

Sara's shock quickly melted into a warm smile as she pulled him back towards the others. "That's cool."

"I know!"

Grissom turned to Sara as she slowly came back up to walk beside him.  "Everything okay?" he asked worriedly.

"Yep," she beamed.

"We're nearing the castle pretty quickly and I haven't seen a single bug." With a heavy sigh, Grissom looked around at the dusty roadside and shook his head.

"What?"

"What good's an entomologist when he hasn't any bugs?" He asked miserably.

"Great I'd say," she winked, causing a slow blush to creep up his cheeks.

"So tell me about that beetle again," she whispered, linking her arm through his as she leaned into him.

"Which one…there's so many different…"

"The Cockchafer," she grinned.

Once again, Grissom's cheeks flushed pink as he fought to banish the images that she had conjured up in his mind. "Uh…"

"Oh come on Grissom," she purred softly. "You know you're gonna tell me."

"Okay," he croaked, forcing himself to keep focused. "Well, it's like this…the Cockchafer…"

TBC


	5. 5

Chapter Five 

The yellow brick road came to an end and the small group found themselves gazing up at the enormous castle before them.

"How could Cavallo afford this on his pay?" Warrick asked as his eyes swept across the building.

"Exactly," Nick huffed. "See, that's why I'm gonna have a complete career change!"

Greg's eyes flew to his friend. "Not Miami…" 

"Miami again!" Nick groaned, shaking his head. "What's wrong with Miami?"

"What's right with it?" Sara and Greg said together, their eyes linking. "Jinx!" They both said together, bursting into laughter.

Shaking his head, Grissom made his way towards the steps and looked up. Spotting some movement in the huge doorway, he saw the image of Cavallo as he tried to escape. "CAVALLO!" He yelled.

All eyes turned to where Grissom was looking and suddenly everything scrambled into confusion.

The entire team and their ensemble made their way up the steps, when Catherine spotted the wizard Cavallo turning on his heels to return back up his steps.

 "Hurry, hurry," she cried, "Don't delay, I need to get home for my daughter today."

"Calm down Cath," Warrick told her, pulling on her arm trying to calm her down.

"Calm, calm, calm he says, when my poor Lindsey's in a daze. I should be home, I'm a caring mother, please be quick, she has no other."

"We'll get you home in time Cath," Warrick promised as he pulled on her hand to pull her up the steps with him.

"How embarrassed I will be if we don't find a cure in time, how many CSI's are there who constantly speak in rhyme?" Shaking her head, Catherine groaned again. "And what do I tell the teachers, I'll feel like such a goose. What happens when I meet with them speaking like Dr. Seuss?" 

"Brass said the cure was in the castle," Sara called out as she reached the huge doors. 

"My brain is in there somewhere!" Hank yelled only to quake in fear when Heather shoved his own straw foot in his mouth.

"Soon I will have my chastity belt key returned and then you will not be worried about a brain," she purred, her pace quickening as she caught up with the others.

The castle was dark inside, the empty hallways echoing with every sound. Looking around, Grissom saw Cavallo's shadowy figure trying to open one of the doors but the key refused to turn in the lock.

"Hold it right there, Robert," Grissom yelled as he raced closer to Cavallo. 

Robert Cavallo stopped what he was doing and turned around to face the small group of people who had started to gather around him. "This is my castle, you are all trespassing."

"We're here as CSIs, Robert," Grissom told him as he put on his authoritive voice. "Now hand over that key and tell us where the missing authors are."

"No, it's mine," he hissed as he yanked the key from the lock and held it to his chest.

"Actually, that key is mine," Lady Heather told him in her best seductress voice as she stepped closer.

Cavallo's eyes widened in shock and he held on tighter to the key, the red lace that was looped in between the hole draping over his fingers. "It's mine, I found it."

"I need my key," Heather insisted, backing Cavallo into a corner.

"Help," Hank yelped when Heather reached out for her missing key and pinned Cavallo against the wall. Looking towards Warrick, Hank waved a pleading arm around him. "Help!"

Warrick looked Hank Scarecrow up and down and pulled on Catherine's arm to take her away from the scene before her.

"You played our Sara for a fool and filled her heart with pain, you'll get just what is coming to you in Lady Heather's domain," Catherine told him before Warrick pulled her away from him.

Hanks mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. When Heather reached for him and sent straw flying in every direction, he cried pitifully when she started stroking him with her key.

"Looks like Lady Heather has her key back," Sara muttered softly as she leant in closer to Grissom's arm.

Grissom looked down at her in shock and gulped heavily. "She never gave me her key, Sara."

"Thanks for telling me," she smiled sweetly and squeezed his hand then turned her attention to both Nick and Greg who were in front of the locked door with their backs towards her.

"It's stuck, Nick," Greg whined.

"It can't be stuck, give it another try."

"I can't, it's too stiff."

Sara scoffed lightly, her chuckles simmering slightly as she stepped up to stand in between them and put her arms around their shoulders. "Is this a bad time or would you two like to be alone?"

"Sara…" Nick growled.

"Oh come on guys, you can tell me." She grinned, "When are you gonna be picking out curtains, because you know both Catherine and me want to be flower girls, and then you'll have to make Warrick the best man because I wouldn't want to piss him off if I were you…"

"You are not helping," Greg groaned as he took a conscious step away from Nick.

"Oh come on, you're so cute," she beamed.

Nick ignored her, turning his head away from her infectious smile as he pushed the door forcefully with his body.

"Uh Nick," she whispered, patting his arm insistently.

"Move back Sar," he told her gallantly, "I'm gonna get this door open."

Stepping aside, Sara once again tapped his shoulder, "Nick…" 

"What?"

"The door…"

"I know, I'm trying to open it," he told her huffily as he thumped into it again with his shoulder.

"Uh…it says pull," she told him sweetly, watching the colour creep up his cheeks when he realized his own mistake.

"Oh, I knew that," he muttered, then reached down to the handle and pulled the door open.

Cavallo tried to make a run for it but tripped over Hank's abandoned leg and fell with a thump onto the floor. Warrick left Catherine's side and caught him before he could make an escape for the outside.

"Where are the missing authors?" he asked, shaking Cavallo as he spoke.

"Hey guys, there's a door at the bottom of this corridor and I can hear voices," Nick told them before starting to walk tentatively through the door.

"Nick, you know they prescribe medication for that now," Greg deadpanned, earning a scowl from the young Texan.

"Lead on Nick," Grissom prompted, stepping closer to Sara again as he started to follow.

Warrick held onto Cavallo and pushed him in front of him, "Where are they?"

"I only wanted some stories about me," Cavallo whined. "It's not fair, Grissom and Sara have stories, you and Catherine too, but none for me. I wanted a pairing too."

Glancing behind him, Warrick spotted Heather and Hank and gasped in a breath, "Dang, that is just so wrong."

Everyone else turned to see Heather dangling her key in front of Hank's eyes as he tried to push himself further back into the wall. 

"They're made for each other," Sara mused before turning again. "Let's find the authors and go home."

"I too want to return and speak normally once again, if I go to school speaking in rhyme, they will all think I'm insane."

Cavallo looked to Catherine in shock, "You're…" 

"I'm speaking in rhyme as you are aware so don't try and pretend you care." Catherine snapped.

"I didn't mean to make you rhyme," Cavallo groaned, "I'm sorry."

"Save your apologies Cavallo," Warrick told him angrily. "You better think real hard on how to change her back."

When they all reached the closed door, the voices that Nick had heard earlier came drifting through the hard wood.

"How am I supposed to beta a Cavallo fic? I have a relatively strong stomach, but certain pairings are just 'not done'." Marlou asked with a sigh.

"Marlou, hun, you're the best beta we have, even you could make a Cavallo fic look good. Listen, he can't make us write fluff can he?" Amanda asked worriedly. "I only do angst."

"I don't know Mandy, you didn't hear what he told LK."

"LK, what did he tell you?" Amanda asked quietly.

"I don't know how this happened, nobody knew who I was...I was anonymous.  I didn't even pay attention to the show." Laura Katharine rambled quickly.

"What did he tell you to do?" the other authors asked her.

Looking up, Laura Katharine sighed, "He took me to one side and told me 'You write fluff--you pair me with someone.'"

"Oh God, he didn't!"

"He did," she sighed, "Why me?"

"Why you? Oh, I can think of a few reasons. But uhm... what *did* you say?" Marlou asked.

Me?" she sighed, "Oh I just said 'ME?  FLUFF?  Oh, no, I don't do fluff.'" 

"Get outta here," Hazeleyes57 laughed. "You write the best fluff."

"If you say so," Laura Katharine sighed.

"Hey, Bangkok and Back, Odyssey Revisited " Amanda reminded her, "to name just a couple."

"Everyone shush," Jane Moss whispered as she crept over to the door, her voice hushed to a whisper, "there's someone outside."

"If it's Cavallo looking for his damn fluff then I say we jump him," Hazeleyes57 suggested.

"That has conjured up some really unpleasant visions there," Amanda groaned, putting her hands over her face. "Thanks Nicola."

"Sorry!"

"And here we go, sliding right back down into the gutter again," Marlou sighed.

"Do we ever come out of it?" Laura Katharine asked innocently.

"Maybe to take a breath," Jane Moss whispered. Taking a step back as the door handle started to turn, she looked around. "We need something heavy to hit him with."

"What about a laptop?" Marlou whispered, looking around until she spotted LSI's laptop resting on top of her sleeping form. "Poor thing was up writing all night."

"Really?" Hazeleyes57 whispered.

"LK, what's she been writing?" Marlou whispered loudly.

Leaning over to take a peek, Laura Katharine drew in a breath and shook her head. "We can't have this laptop, she's writing a new chapter of Remember Lake Tahoe."

 "That's excellent," Jane Moss beamed, containing herself before her and the other authors started to discuss the finer points of the story.

Before they had a chance to react, the door flew open and Nick and Greg came tumbling inside.


	6. 6

 Huge thanks to everyone who has reviewed and to Marlou and Mossley for beta-ing

**Chapter Six**

"We found em," Nick called behind him before taking a tentative step forward. "I'm Nick Stokes, we're here to rescue you."

"Nick, that sounded so cool man," Greg grinned as he turned to face the women in the room. "I think this is where you should say 'Aren't you a little short for a storm trooper'"

Tripple Pirouette stood up shakily and stepped closer to Greg before putting a hand dramatically over her brow. "I feel faint, catch me."

Greg reached out and caught her quickly, holding her close as she slowly opened her eyes. "I'm Lauren by the way."

"Hi Lauren," he grinned.

Jane Moss moved towards them and tapped Greg on the shoulder. "Hi, I just want to tell you that I love your hair."

"Really?" he grinned, "I love yours too, great style."

"Thanks, I like to be different." Turning her head slightly, she smiled brightly towards Nick. "Hi Nick."

"You're not a N/S author are you?" he whispered worriedly, "Or a Gr/N author?"

"ME?" Jane Moss gasped. "Nope, we're G/Sers all the way."

"Cool," he nodded, his Texan smile causing a few of the authors to lose their breath. "We're here to take you home."

"Oh I can't wait to get back," Tripple Pirouette whispered into Greg's ear as she stood up to slide an arm through his.

"Well, we'll get you there as soon as we can," he smiled.

"I meant to say I can't wait to get _you _back home," she told him, winking.

The door pushed open further to reveal Warrick and Catherine, which stirred more than a whispered gasps through the room. Catherine looked at the dozen sets of eyes that were trained on the man beside her and moved a little closer to him. 

"Is everyone okay?" Warrick asked quickly, scanning the room for anyone who appeared to be injured.

"We're great, thanks," Marlou nodded, speaking for the crowd.

When Grissom and Sara came through the door, everyone in the room sat up a little straighter.

Grissom scanned the crowd and made his way over to one of the authors who was slumped in her chair, and reached out to touch her arm.

LSI was shaken awake.  As she came to, laptop sitting in her lap, she rubbed her eyes from a sensual dream of resolved sexual tension, and gasped.  There, crouched in front of her, wearing a midnight-blue shirt that did something no shirt had a right to do to any man's eyes, was Gil Grissom.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly, his voice sending a delightful shiver down her spine.

Surely she was still dreaming.  It must have been all that green beer she'd snuck out of the Wizard's private stash that was making her hallucinate, she mused.  And then she saw Sara, crouched next to Grissom, looking magnificent in a silk pantsuit in an ivory hue that complemented her colouring to such perfection.  Her hair fell to her shoulders in a tangle of curls…just the way Grissom liked it.

"You're real!" LSI exclaimed once the cobwebs had vacated her brain.

Her two favourite CSIs exchanged a meaningful glance, charged with electricity, and something else that could only be interpreted one way.

"Ohhh…" LSI breathed out forcefully, "you did it!"  

Sara crinkled her brow in disgust, reached into her pocket and offered LSI a Halls cough drop.

"Are we ready to get out of here?" Nick asked loudly.

"I am ready to leave this place but not before I'm cured, I need to speak in sentences, not the rhyming I've endured. Please tell me this will disappear once we return to Vegas again, so that I won't have to be committed because they think I'm insane?" Catherine asked hopefully.

Before anyone could reply a puff of smoke appeared and Brass stepped out into the room. "Hi kids," he smiled. "I see you've found them."

"Brass," Warrick asked worriedly, you said once we got to the castle then Catherine would be cured."

"I did, didn't I?" he mused.

"Brass…"

"I thought I told you to address me as Brassette," Brass told Warrick quickly. "Okay, this is how it works."

All of the authors gathered around and waited patiently for Brass to speak, but he took a few pondering moments before he said anything. Taking the opportunity, Xant walked over to Sara and Grissom, offering her profuse thanks at being rescued. "If there's anything I can do for you, night or day, please don't hesitate to call me," she said, handing Sara a business card.

"Relationship Counselor," Sara asked with a smile as she read. 

Xant paused to look at Grissom before walking away, "Especially you," she said, poking a finger at his chest.

"Uh…" Grissom started, but stopped when he caught the eyes of another author.

"Hi, I'm Sara Grissom, I just wanted to say thanks," she smiled softly as she gazed at him dreamily. "I could gaze into your eyes all day."

"Um…thank you," he coughed, his face blushing redder by the second.

"Hey I have a question," Sara said quickly, looking around at the authors one by one. "Which one's Anansay?"

Anansay silently raised a hand guiltily, "Me."

Sara grinned widely and left Grissom's side to pat Anansay on the arm thankfully. "I can't wait to read Jazzy Lust when I get him home."

"You're welcome, I think," Anansay blushed.

"Okay, if you're all finished, how about we get this show on the road and go home?" Brass told them all with a smile. Pulling open his pink bag that matched the taffeta dress, he took out a pair of sparkling red shoes and handed them to Sara.

"Uh…yeah, they're shoes."

"You need to put them on," Brass told her with a bright smile.

"You have got to be kidding me, right?" Sara groaned as she regarded the shoes with disgust.

"I'm afraid it's the only way for you to get home," Brass told her with a sly wink.

"WHAT?" Looking around the room her eyes landed back onto Brass again. "Why me? Grissom…"

"If you put them on," Grissom told her in a silky whisper, "I'll let you read Jazzy Lust with me."

Without hesitation, Sara quickly dropped to the floor and started to change her shoes to put on the red shoes that continued to sparkle.

"See Sar, they suit you," Nick teased.

"Watch it buster, I'm surrounded by G/S authors here and I'm sure one of them, at least knows a Gr/N author!" Sara warned with a growl.

"Oo, I do," Amanda told them, sticking her hand in the air.

"There, see," Sara told him. "I have back-up."

"You don't play fair Sara," Nick groaned, but stopped talking when Jane Moss pulled on his arm, drawing his attention away from Sara with a warm smile.

Clearing his throat when Sara stood back up, Brass lifted his arm, "Okay, now all you have to do Sara is say…"

"I know, I know, there's no place like home," she sighed.

"No, I was going to say there's no place like Vegas," Brass mused. "But hey, whatever floats your boat."

"Okay, okay…but what about Catherine?"

"Trust me, the rhyme will stop as soon as we leave here," Brass assured, winking. "Now, could you please get a move on because this dress is starting to chafe?"

"Hey, where's Cavallo?" Grissom asked, suddenly realizing that the director was no longer with them.

"Who cares," Greg grinned as he caught Tripple Pirouette's gaze.

"Okay, before we do this," Marlou said, turning to face the group of authors that she had been held captive with with a small smirk on her face.. "My mailbox is patiently waiting for your fics. Whether it's to beta, or just to read, doesn't really matter. Just write, all of ya! ."

Xant nodded enthusiastically as she caught Warrick's eye and let out a low growl. "See you around, tiger," she said with a wink.

Warrick gulped visibly, a rosy flush creeping its way up his cheeks. Averting his eyes, he turned his attention back to Catherine just in time to see the heat in her eyes.

"Okay, are we all ready?" Sara asked. "Is everyone here?"

"Hold on, I'll find the list," Grissom offered as he pulled the sheet of paper from his pocket. "Burked?"

"Yeah?"

"Oh good, you're here," he smiled and went to the next on the list. "Mossley?"

"I'm here too."

"IrishDachsie, Laredo Grissom?"

"Yep, both here," they chorused.

"LSI, Xant," he gulped when he saw the next name on the list, "Anansay?"

"Yep."

"Laura Katharine, Hazeleyes57?"

"I have her here," Nick grinned.

"And I'm here," Laura Katharine told him.

"Look let's save time," Sara interrupted. "Is everyone here who should be here?"

There was an unanimous nod. Turning back to him, Sara smiled. "Can we please go home now?"

Taking a deep breath, Sara clicked the heels of the red shoes together and said, "There's no place like Vegas. There's no place like Vegas!"

In a second, the whole place around them started to swirl, plunging them all into darkness which swallowed every sound within.

"I think she's starting to wake up," Grissom's voice drifted into Sara's thoughts and she slowly opened her eyes, blinking away the light as Grissom's face came into focus.

"Oh God, my head," she groaned as she put a hand tentatively to her forehead. "What happened?"

"You passed out and hit your head on the table," Grissom soothed, his hands sliding behind her neck and shoulders helping her gently upright.

"I had this bizarre dream," she whispered, blinking back against the light hitting her senses.

"Easy Sara," Grissom whispered against her ear. "Try to relax."

"Hey guys, oh God Sara, honey what happened?" Catherine asked quickly as she came into the room to crouch down beside Sara's still form.

Sara lifted her eyes to Catherine and reached out to pull her into a quick embrace. "You're cured," she gasped in a delighted whisper.

"Cured?" Catherine asked when she pulled back to look down into her friend's eyes.

"You were rhyming, I'm so glad we managed to stop it," Sara told her with relief.

"Rhyming?" Catherine asked quickly. "Honey, are you okay?"

"I'm taking her home Catherine," Grissom told her, grasping Sara's shoulders gently as he helped her to her feet.

"Oh thank God," Sara gasped when she caught sight of her feet.

"What?" Grissom asked urgently. "Are you okay?"

"They're gone," she beamed. 

"Uh Sara, your feet are still there," Grissom told her worriedly.

"Not my feet," she chuckled, holding a wobbly foot out so she could show him. "My sparkly red shoes!"

"Okay, now I know you hit your head!" Catherine muttered with a smile.

"Did I?"

"Did you what?" Grissom asked softly.

"Did I what, what?" Sara asked him in confusion.

Despite the situation, Grissom found himself chuckling beside her and carefully led her towards the door. "Let's get you home."

"Don't forget your kit," she whispered loudly.

"Why would I want to take my kit home?"

"Grissom, you promised we could read smut if I put the shoes on, don't tell me you've forgotten already." Sara stopped and watched his face turn a bright shade of red before composing herself huffily. "I distinctly remember you said you'd let me read smut with you!"

Grissom reached up to his shirt and slipped a button free before quickly leading her out of the room. "Okay sara, I'll take you home now."

"And read Jazzy Lust?" she asked hopefully.

"Anything you want," he nodded, picking his field kit up as he walked. Slipping his arm around her waist, he led her out of the exit and into the cool Vegas breeze, his treasured copy of Jazzy Lust nestled safely inside his kit. With a soft smile, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead while leading her towards their waiting Denali before driving them away from the lab and their bizarre adventure in Oz….

End


End file.
